


a (less than) perfect proposal

by SydneyHorses



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:35:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23780017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SydneyHorses/pseuds/SydneyHorses
Summary: Ferdinand has something important to ask Hubert, and it is going to be absolutely perfect or else.
Relationships: Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra
Comments: 3
Kudos: 101





	a (less than) perfect proposal

**Author's Note:**

> this was a request from someone on my tumblr, go check it out if you're interested!
> 
> thanks to my roommate the geology major for losing her mind over ferdibert and sending me a LOT of engagement ring options

Ferdinand paces back and forth in the Empress’s private rose garden, the small box in his pocket weighing him down so much so that he feels it may rip through the lining of his jacket. For what must be the tenth time in the last few minutes, he reaches into his pocket, touching the wooden box to ensure that it’s still there. He sighs heavily and sits down at the table he’s prepared with coffee and biscuits and adjusts the place settings yet again.

It’s all going to be fine.

He sits for a moment, his fingers tapping out a staccatoed rhythm on the table. Ferdinand smooths over the placemats, checks the position of the pastries on their tray one more time, then resolves to sit and wait for Hubert in silence.

That resolution lasts for scarcely a minute before Ferdinand can’t take it anymore. He jumps to his feet and resumes his pacing, hooking his hands together behind his back. Hubert is four minutes late, which is both out of character and completely inexcusable of him.

Four minutes turns to ten, and then fifteen, and Ferdinand is starting to wonder if he’s been stood up when Hubert emerges from the bushes around the garden, looking slightly disheveled but there nonetheless.

“I apologize for the delay,” Hubert says. He kisses Ferdinand on the cheek, then sits down at the table. “I was caught in a useless meeting about the price of grain, of all things. Why that merchant assumed it was worth my time, I haven’t the slightest idea.”

Ferdinand nods, for once at a loss for words. The magnitude of what he is about to do is starting to sink in, and, although he’s sure of this decision, possibly more sure than he has ever been of anything, the act of dropping down on one knee feels almost insurmountably difficult. 

He can do this. Him and Hubert have discussed marriage before, and Edelgard had seemed confident that Hubert would like the ring Ferdinand picked out, and even helped him practice his proposal. With her blessing in his favor, he can surely do this. 

Ferdinand stands, ready to ask what will surely be the most important question of his life. Ferdinand takes a deep breath and looks at Hubert, calmly pouring himself a cup of coffee, and promptly catches his foot on one of the legs of the table and goes crashing to the ground.

He lets out a strangled cry as he falls, the whole table following him down onto the grass. It’s all ruined: the place settings he’d spent ages dithering over, the perfectly arranged cutlery, the thoughtfully selected pastries, and his storybook proposal.

As if to add insult to injury, the coffee pot falls as well, landing on Ferdinand and upending piping hot coffee all over his jacket. He winces, grimacing at the delicate embroidery that is surely going to be irreparably stained.

“Ferdinand!” Hubert jumps out of his chair and kneels on the ground beside him. “Are you alright?”

The coffee is going to ruin his entire outfit and possibly his whole day as well. He yanks the jacket off before the coffee can burn him, failing to notice the box tumble out of his pocket and into the grass. “I am perfectly fine,” he says, feeling very much not fine. His proposal seems impossible now, in the wake of his destruction of what had been supposed to be a wonderful date. All he really wants now is to fold himself into Hubert’s arms and take comfort there, although that would be most unbecoming. 

Hubert frowns, “Of course. Come, let’s head back inside. You need a change of clothes, and I,” he kisses the top of Ferdinand’s head, “need a new cup of coffee.”

“Of course,” Ferdinand echoes, his voice cracking pitifully.

“Darling?” Hubert smooths down Ferdinand’s hair. “You look as if you might cry.”

Ferdinand swallows, “It is of no concern.”

Hubert’s eyes dart away from his face, settling on the box sitting next to his jacket. “Ferdinand? Is that-”

“No!” Ferdinand cries, “That is nothing!” He snatches the box up off of the ground and, in lieu of his jacket pocket, shoving it down his shirt.

Hubert rocks back on his heels, a smug smile tugging at his mouth. “Ferdinand von Aegir,” he says, “were you going to propose?”

“It was meant to be a surprise,” Ferdinand says, somewhat pitifully. He feels positively wretched. This was supposed to be perfect, and he’s ruined it. “I was going to sweep you off your feet.”

Hubert frowns and moves his hand to Ferdinand’s cheek, stroking a thumb over his cheekbone, “My dear, you’ve been doing that for years.” Ferdinand doesn’t respond, and Hubert sighs.

“Very well,” Hubert stands and sits at the now-upended tea table. “Woo me.”

Ferdinand swallows and fishes the box out of his shirt, walking over to stand in front of Hubert. He looks down at him, weighing what is to come. Hubert catches his eye, and Ferdinand smiles without thining. Hubert looks dispassionately back at him, but Ferdinand knows that man that he’s in love with well enough to see the fondness in his eyes. That’s all the encouragement Ferdinand needs, and he drops down onto one knee. “Hubert von Vestra,” he begins. There’s a lump in his throat and his heart is beating so loudly he wonders if he’ll be able to hear Hubert even if he says yes. “Loving you has been my most important responsibility. Everything else pales in comparison. When I was young, I thought my most important duty would be to someday take my place as Prime Minister in following with my position as the rightful heir to the von Aegir family.” His hands are shaking slightly, but he smiles up at Hubert nonetheless, “I was wrong. When measured against loving you, there is nothing that matters more.”

“Ferdinand,” Hubert’s voice trembles.

“Let me finish,” Ferdinand insists, ignoring the tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. “I love you, and I can only hope that I have adequately expressed my affections over the course of the last three years. I cannot imagine my life without you. You must know that every day I spend with you only causes my love to grow. In the wake of this, there is only one thing left to be done,” he takes a deep breath and opens the box, revealing the golden-orange spessartite garnet he’d painstakingly picked out at the jeweler’s. “Hubert von Vestra, will you marry me?”

Hubert makes a hapless noise that’s almost a laugh, “I did tell you to woo me.” He extends a hand down, towards Ferdinand.

Ferdinand doesn’t move, “You have not said yes.” His face is wet with tears, and the hot coffee has seeped through his shirt and really is quite hot, but there’s nowhere else he’d rather be.

Hubert makes that same noise, “Yes. Yes, you’re right.” He smiles, a small secret thing that’s just for Ferdinand, “Yes. Of course I’ll marry you.” Ferdinand stands and takes Hubert’s hand, pulling his glove off of his left hand and slipping the ring onto his finger. Hubert touches it with his right hand, his small smile growing, “I don’t have a ring for you, I’m afraid. Some suitor I am.”

Ferdinand laughs, “Hubert! Don’t say such things.” He laces their fingers together and kisses Hubert’s bare knuckles, a gesture that still feels almost unbearably intimate. “I intended to get you a chain for it, so you would not have to wear it under your gloves.”

“Be quiet,” Hubert says, pulling his other glove off with his teeth and letting it fall to the ground. He wipes Ferdinand’s tears away with his free hand, the gesture clumsy but still tender nonetheless. “It’s perfect.”

“You are perfect,” Ferdinand replies, pulling his fiance in for a kiss.

Hubert wraps his arms around him and when they finally separate, he’s smiling as well. He brings both his hands up to Ferdinand’s cheeks, cupping his face in his hand. Ferdinand beams up at him, the cold metal of the ring a new - but not unwelcome! - sensation against his skin. His tears are finally starting to slow, and his anxiety has been replaced by a kind of burning happiness that threatens to consume him entirely. “I think,” Hubert says, “we should get you a change of clothes. You smell like coffee.”

Ferdinand laughs and kisses Hubert again. “Yes,” he replies, somewhat breathlessly. “I suppose I do.”

Hubert brings his hands away from Ferdinand’s face, resting one on the small of Ferdinand’s back and guiding him away from the remnants of their ruined tea date. “And Ferdinand, dear,” he smiles slightly, “That was an exemplary proposal. I daresay there will never be another so fine.”

Ferdinand laughs, a breathless little noise, and throws his arms around Hubert’s neck. There is no other way to respond to such a thing except to kiss his future husband, and so he does exactly that.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr edelgardlesbians and on twitter at @edelgardlesbian


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